Will the Vikings Ease Dallas Turner Into the NFL?
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It’s not often that the third defensive player taken in a draft find themselves under-the-radar heading into their rookie season, but Dallas Turner might just be that with the Minnesota Vikings. If he had been taken by just about any other team, he might be the buzz of their fanbase, even in a draft that led off with 14-straight offensive players.
But quarterbacks rule over the NFL, and the Vikings took one at No. 10 overall in JJ McCarthy before trading up to land Dallas Turner at Pick 17. All eyes are on the timeline of when McCarthy is ready to overtake Sam Darnold as the team’s field general. While Turner isn’t getting ignored completely — he is FanDuel’s favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year, after all — he’s a B-plot for the Vikings offseason, even after the Justin Jefferson contract saga got resolved.
Turner isn’t just a highly-touted prospect, though. If he was simply that, the Vikings may never have traded future third-and-fourth-round picks to move up six slots to secure him. Turner plays the edge, one of the very most important positions on the field. After all, if quarterback is so vital, the guy whose most responsible for stopping him has to be.
Even before the Vikings had any inkling they could grab both their quarterback of the future and Turner, Minnesota’s big offseason project was to replace the pass-rushing threat they lost in Danielle Hunter. Hunter was a Pro Bowl force for Minnesota’s defense last season, registering 16.5 sacks, hitting the quarterback an additional 22 times, and leading the league with 23 tackles for loss. Replacing him was going to be a challenge for Brian Flores and the front office, but Minnesota did a respectable job.
In signing Jonathan Greenard, the Vikings recovered 12.5 of those 16 sacks and matched Hunter’s 22 quarterback hits, assuming Greenard can duplicate his 2023 numbers with the Houston Texans. Signing former Miami Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel gives them another six sacks from last season, giving the team Hunter-like production in the aggregate.
This is all to say, Flores has the luxury of either easing Turner into the role, or throwing him in the deep end on Day 1. Which way will Flores go?
Ask last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson, Jr., and it sure sounds like he’s Team Day 1. “He’s one of a kind,” said Anderson of his former Alabama teammate. “He’s just so bendy and electric off the edge. The sky is the limit for Dallas.” If Anderson, who registered 7.0 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, and 10 tackles for loss in 15 games en route to making the Pro Bowl as a rookie, is saying someone else who plays the same position is one-of-a-kind, that’s gotta make your ears perk up.
As of last month, Flores was keeping his expectations under control, at least publicly. “Like any rookie, [Turner’s] role is going to be up to him,” he told Kevin Siefert of ESPN following rookie minicamp. “We’ll start the process of teaching him the system and we’ll find out how much he can handle.”
It’s easy to get excited about Turner’s potential — and make no mistake, Flores is. “I’m not a big smile guy, but I’ve been smiling these last 24 hours,” he told the media after drafting Turner. Still, the conservative outlook is probably the best approach until proven otherwise. Edge rushers can make an impact as a rookie, of course, look at Anderson, or Micah Parsons in 2021 (13.0 sacks), or Bradley Chubb in 2018 (12.0 sacks). However, Turner is just 21, making the transition from the NCAA to the NFL a big leap.
Looking at the past 10 years of 21-year-old rookie defenders, Joey Bosa (No. 3 overall in the 2016 Draft) is the only player to exceed double-digit sacks. Lower that threshold to 6.0 sacks or more, and there are just eight players who’ve hit that figure in the last decade. Six sacks as a rookie might not seem so crazy given his DROY aspirations, but if he hits that figure, it’s a significant milestone.
Of those eight defenders, Bosa, Hunter, Yannick Ngakoue, and George Karlaftis III all went on to record double-digit sack seasons. Given Turner’s athletic gifts, that’s a good sign that he can parlay a strong rookie season into a dominant, perhaps Hunter-esque pass-rushing career.
Flores has options of exactly how to put Turner into his defensive rotation, and it will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets right off the bat. Whenever Flores takes off the water wings and throws Turner into the pool, though, you can count on Flores making the most of his new draftee’s skills and using him to terrorize quarterbacks this season. Who knows, Turner might even make Flores crack another smile.
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